2018-19 Seasonal Team Requirements

ROSTERS

All players on tournament teams must also be registered as individual members of USQ.

There is no limit on the number of players who can belong to a quidditch team; however, no more than 21 players can be on a team's tournament or game roster for any particular event

Players may only play official games for one team per season. Any player who wants to switch between teams mid-season must submit a waiver to the gameplay department in advance requesting permission and explaining their reasoning. Click here for a waiver.

All players on a collegiate team must attend the same school and must submit proof of enrollment twice per season. Players and teams are subject to penalties for roster violations. This proof of enrollment must be sent to enrollment@usquidditch.org and must include the player's school name, full name, and official proof of enrollment from the school’s registrar or the player's official class schedule for the current season showing that they are enrolled.

REGULAR SEASON SCHEDULE

All teams must compete in a minimum number of USQ official and ranked games during the season against a minimum number of teams in multiple locations.

Regional championships and US Quidditch Cup do not count toward this total. Read the full season play requirements here.

REFEREE CERTIFICATION

Competitive teams are required to certify referees in order to facilitate regular competitive play in the still-developing sport of quidditch.

Teams are required to complete their referee requirements, completed by five different individuals, by October 15 or one month after they register (whichever comes later). If a team does not complete these requirements by the deadline, it must complete them by 24 hours before its next scheduled official event. A team that fails to complete their referee requirements will not be permitted to play in any official matches until it completes these requirements. If a team’s deadline falls after its regional championship, they must complete the requirements by 24 hours before the scheduled start time of the regional championship, the same as the roster submission deadline.

At least two team members must certify as assistant referees.

At least one different team member must certify as a snitch referee.

At least two different team members must pass the head referee written test (after passing the AR and SR written tests) and purchase a USQ referee membership.*

*Adult players may upgrade to a referee membership for $25. This will make one eligible for the certified lead assistant referee position at official matches, which has a compensation rate of $10/game.

Teams that have players transferring to or from their team will be expected to maintain a fully certified crew. Players transferring to a team are immediately eligible to count as a referee for their new team. When a player transfers from a team, their old team will be given two weeks from the date of the transfer to complete their crew to these standards.

For more information on how to become a referee or for a description of the tiered referee system, click here.

Snitch Runner Requirement

Beginning in the 2018-19 season, all teams will be required to supply at least one snitch runner at all USQ-run events. Just like with team referee crews, this requirement will mean that there are more snitches available at all events to assist with staffing games. All team snitches will be required to pass the snitch runner written certification in order to count for their team’s requirements. Once they have passed the written test, the snitch runner will have the option to register for a free snitch membership and sign up for a field test or submit footage of their games in order to complete snitch certification.

The deadline for teams to complete this new requirement will be the same as for team referee certification.

Please note that the individual serving as a team's provided snitch cannot also be on that team's referee crew for USQ-run events.

The status of the team snitch runner requirement is publicly available here.

COACH CERTIFICATION

Each USQ official team is required to certify a coach before competing officially. They must be certified by the roster deadline for their first official event of the season - 24 hours before the start of the event.

A certified coach must purchase a USQ coach membership and complete the USQ coach certification process. A player or referee member who would like to serve as a team’s coach must pay an additional $25 to upgrade their membership to include that of “coach.”

An individual can play for a maximum of one team and can coach for a maximum of one team. The team for which one plays need not be the team for which one coaches; if the two teams do differ, two separate memberships must be purchased (an individual cannot use the upgrade option when two different teams are involved).

USQ requires teams to have a certified coach registered with their team before they play in official games. The team’s certified coach be present at all official matches. Please note that teams may have more than one certified coach. Only one of them needs to be onsite at official matches.

To help with enforcement, USQ has created a public coach certification status list, similar to what we do for regional championship requirements. It will also help ensure that teams have more accountability in completing this requirement. The status list is available here. However, it is the responsibility of the team to ensure that a certified coach is present at all official matches. If a team does not fulfil this requirement, they will be subject to forfeiting all games at the tournament they attended without a certified coach present.

In the case of a medical or personal emergency that arises during an event that causes a team’s certified coach to need to leave the event site, the team may continue to play without being required to forfeit their remaining games in the tournament, given the following:

This exception is only in effect when the certified coach unexpectedly leaves the game or event site due to a medical or personal emergency, or is leaving the event site to accompany one of their players to seek medical attention offsite.

The coach must have been present during the tournament. If a medical or personal emergency arises before the start of the event, the team is not exempted from the requirement of having a coach present onsite.

Before leaving the event site, the coach must inform the tournament director of the situation. If the coach is unable to directly inform the tournament director, a member of their team must immediately do so.

Upon return to the event site (if the coach returns before the end of the event), they must be present at all remaining official matches.

Within one week after the event, the coach must complete this form to affirm that they left for an emergency situation that arose during the event.

The team's certified coach must be present at all official matches. For more information, click here.

COLLEGE & COMMUNITY TEAMS - ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS

Please note that the word college and collegiate applies to all colleges and universities.

A college team is comprised of a group of students from a single school. A college team does not need to have a formal affiliation with their school to be registered as a college team. However, those teams with recognition from a school must compete in the college division and register as a college team. Forms of recognition may include:

Teams with the school name incorporated into their team name

Recognized student organizations

Club sports

Grant or funding recipients

Recipients of discounted practice or event space

The goal of this definition is to ensure that teams who are representing a school are competing in the college division.

A school may have more than one official college team, provided they meet the requirements above. However, there will be no special exceptions to the player transfer policy made for schools in this situation.

A community team may not have any affiliation with a college and may not use the name of a school as part of their team name. They may not receive any monetary or in-kind support from any school, including but not limited to free or discounted practice or event space. However, discounted practice or event space shall not be considered in-kind support if a community resident, unaffiliated with the school, could have obtained the space at the same cost.

Collegiate teams are permitted to play against community teams. If collegiate teams and community teams play against one another, those games will count towards each team’s season play requirements (to attend regional and national championships). If collegiate teams and community teams play against one another, those games will count towards each team’s standings, which will affect seeding for regional and national championships. At regional championships and US Quidditch Cup, collegiate and community teams will play in separate divisions.

PLAYER ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS

College and community adult players must be 18 or older. Those who are 17 may compete after they submit a signed parental consent form.

All players on a collegiate team must attend the same school. Current graduate students will be permitted to play on their school’s collegiate team. Faculty, staff, and non-students will not be permitted to play on a school’s collegiate team. A student from a college with an unofficial or community team may not compete with a college team from another school.

To prevent non-students from playing on collegiate teams, members of collegiate teams must provide USQ with proof of enrollment in their institution at the beginning of the season (at least 24 hours before the start of the first event they are competing in officially) and again after January 1 to enrollment@usquidditch.org. Players may submit either an official proof of enrollment from their school’s registrar or an official class schedule for the current season showing the player’s full name. Additional forms of proof of enrollment may be accepted on a case-by-case basis.

If a player graduates their school mid-term, they will not be permitted to play on that collegiate team after their enrollment at that school ends. Affected players may choose to apply to transfer to a community team.

Players must submit proof of enrollment before participating in an official game. Players and teams are subject to penalties for roster violations.

A player on a collegiate team will be permitted to coach a community team as a non-player, and vice-versa. Coaches for a college team do not need to be current students, nor do affiliated referees. However any member who is a playing coach or playing referee must submit proof of current enrollment.

JOINT TEAM DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM

USQ has a joint team development plan designed to help new teams develop. The plan has two main components: a foster program, whereby an established official college club may be permitted to have students from one single other college on its roster, and a joint team program, whereby up to three schools that currently don’t have official teams may compete together as one team.

Helpful Databases

US Quidditch (USQ) is a magical 501(c)3 non-profit dedicated to governing the sport of quidditch and advancing the sport by organizing events and programs that build community and empower all genders to compete together. Inspired by the Harry Potter novels, USQ serves athletes and fans, from sport-lovers to book-lovers and everything in between.